The present invention relates to ovens and, more particularly, to conveyorized ovens for transporting products in a vertical direction.
Commercial ovens are designed and constructed with a number of frequently competing goals in mind. First and foremost, the oven must perform the broiling, baking or toasting functions in a proper manner, and on a predictably repeatable basis. Secondly, the oven should be able to satisfy production requirements in an efficient, user friendly manner, without undo space, power or labor requirements. Additionally, in view of applicable health and safety codes, the oven should be constructed so that it can be thoroughly and easily cleaned to insure the healthfulness of products cooked in the oven.
A variety of conveyorized ovens are presently available for commercial use. A substantial number of such ovens utilize a horizontal conveyor system which passes the products to be cooked through a heating chamber. Though such horizontal conveyor systems are generally adequate to perform their cooking functions they suffer in relation to the other requirements discussed above. The footprint, or floor space required to store such ovens may well be too large to permit their usage in many locations. Production capacity also suffers in view of the inherent limitations on the spacing of products passing through the oven. Each product must be spaced by the length, width or diameter of each product. The attached conveyor systems consume further floor space and expense. Moreover, unless the conveyor system is substantially integral with the oven there may be substantial heat loss between the conveyor system and the oven.
Spiral-type ovens have more limited floor space requirements than horizontal conveyor ovens. However, production capacity is again limited by end-to-end sizing of the products. Moreover, spiral-type ovens incorporate support and drive structures within the central heating area of the oven. Such a construction produces a number of disadvantages, such as those associated with oven maintenance and the uniformity of heat flow through the oven.
Prior to the present invention no vertically conveyorized ovens have satisfactorily addressed the previously mentioned deficiencies of the prior art. The present invention provides a mechanism for reliable and efficient baking of various products with minimum floor space requirements. The mechanism disclosed herein incorporates a modular type construction wherein the oven housing, conveyor drive and baffle structure may be readily disassembled from each other to facilitate ease of cleaning and maintenance. The conveyor drive assembly is constructed and disposed in a manner to provide minimum interference in the heat flow through the oven and thereby facilitate the even distribution of heat across the products service in the most efficient and reliable manner.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are described below in connection with the presently preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings.